Plex is beginning to implement its new guidelines, which stop customers from remotely accessing a private media server and not using a subscription payment.
Beforehand, individuals outdoors of a server proprietor’s community may entry the proprietor’s media library through Plex without cost. Below the brand new guidelines introduced in March, a server proprietor must have a Plex Go subscription, which begins at $7 per thirty days, to grant customers distant entry to their server. Alternatively, somebody can remotely entry one other individual’s Plex server by shopping for their very own Plex Go or a Remote Watch Pass, which is a subscription with fewer options than a Plex Go and that Plex began promoting in April for a $2 per thirty days beginning value.
Plex’s new guidelines took impact on April 29. Based on a current Plex forums put up by a Plex worker that How-To Geek noticed right now, the modifications are rolling out this week, with a subscription being required for individuals utilizing Plex’s Roku OS app for distant entry. The Plex worker added:
Plex began as a Mac port of the Xbox Media Center project in 2009 earlier than evolving right into a media server firm and, extra just lately, a streaming service provider. Its new distant entry guidelines can be a take a look at for the corporate, which has been difficult long-time customers with quite a few modifications over the previous yr, together with a Plex Go value hike, a foray into renting out officially licensed movies, and the introduction of social features and a mobile app redesign.
Plex has beforehand emphasized its must sustain with “rising prices,” which embody offering help for a lot of units and codecs. It has additionally stated it wants cash to implement new options, together with an integration with Common Sense Media, a brand new “bespoke server administration app” for managing server customers, and “an open and documented API for server integrations,” together with customized metadata brokers,” per a March weblog put up.
In January 2024, TechCrunch reported that Plex was nearing profitability and raised $40 million in funding (Plex raised a $50 million progress fairness round in 2021). Theoretically, the brand new distant entry guidelines may enhance subscription income and assist Plex’s backers see returns on their investments.
Nonetheless, Plex’s evolution may isolate long-time customers who’ve relied on Plex as a media server for years and people who aren’t excited about subscriptions, FAST (free ad-supported streaming TV) channels, or renting films. Plex is unlikely to surrender on its streaming enterprise, although. In 2023, Scott Hancock, Plex’s then-VP of selling, said that Plex had extra individuals utilizing its on-line streaming service than utilizing its media server options since 2022. For individuals in search of software program packages extra squarely centered on media internet hosting, Plex alternate options, like Jellyfin, more and more look enticing.
This story initially appeared on Ars Technica.
